Lewis Hamilton ‘doesn’t stand a chance’ against Max Verstappen for title – Schumacher

F1: Verstappen and Hamilton verbally spar

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Ralf Schumacher has come out in support of Max Verstappen in his quest to win the Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship. The younger brother of racing legend Michael Schumacher thinks that even though Verstappen’s great rival Lewis Hamilton has taken the lead in the drivers’ standings, the Red Bull driver will prevail come the end of the season.

The 46-year-old bemoaned Verstappen’s poor fortune in his column with Sky: “Max has had bad luck twice now, but he has put in an incredible performance so far. Even when the Red Bull isn’t running well, he’s getting the best out of the car.”

Schumacher also hailed the manner in which Verstappen has grown up over the course of his Formula 1 career, and noted that such maturity will be an essential part of why Hamilton will not be able to rattle the Dutchman and win his eighth title even after taking the championship lead last weekend.

Schumacher said: “I don’t think he [Verstappen] will overcompensate in the second half of the season because he has matured now.

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“You’ve seen that all season and it was badly needed. Of course Lewis is trying all sorts of things to get him off his back, but he doesn’t stand a chance with Max this year.

“For Red Bull, it will be important to focus on the essentials and not constantly react to Mercedes’ distraction tactics.”

Schumacher also weighed in on the debate surrounding the recent conflict between Hamilton and Verstappen, noting that he thinks there will be many more confrontations on the track between the two.

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Schumacher said: “I don’t think Lewis and Max have clashed for the last time. The closer it gets to the end of the championship, the harder it will become. For us spectators that’s great, because we get to look forward to mega-exciting races.”

At the Hungarian Grand Prix last weekend, it was Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas who inflicted damage on Verstappen’s title challenge as he shunted Lando Norris’ McLaren into Verstappen’s car and sent him spinning off the track.

While Verstappen was able to resume the race, his car was too badly damaged to compete effectively as he finished in ninth place, 80 seconds behind eventual race winner Esteban Ocon.

Bottas’ mistake, which also wiped out Sergio Perez’s Red Bull, has only served to worsen the already frosty relations between the two title challenging teams. Toto Wolff attempted to apologise to his counterpart Christian Horner but the Red Bull boss was unwilling to accept any olive branch.

Formula 1 now heads into a three-week summer break before resuming on August 27 with the Belgian Grand Prix. Hamilton currently leads Verstappen by just eight points.

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